Oat beta-glucan and sea buckthorn flavonoid complex slows rice flour digestion
What it found
In mice, adding a high molecular weight oat beta-glucan and sea buckthorn flavonoid complex to rice flour slowed stomach emptying and gut movement and lowered the rise in blood sugar.
Lab tests showed the same complex had stronger antioxidant and starch-digesting enzyme blocking activity.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Antioxidant and enzyme tests
In lab tests, the high molecular weight complex had stronger ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging ability and higher inhibition rates of alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase than the low molecular weight complex.
Stomach emptying in mice
Mice fed rice flour with the high molecular weight complex added had the slowest gastric emptying and intestinal propulsion rates.
Blood sugar in mice
The same mice had the slowest rise in blood glucose compared with the control and low molecular weight groups.
Digestive enzymes and hormones
These mice also had the lowest activity of digestive enzymes and the lowest levels of insulin, ghrelin, motilin and related gene expression.
What the authors conclude
“This study provided scientific data for the development of foods with delayed gastric rate and hypoglycemic index for specific populations.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the study provides scientific data for developing foods with a delayed gastric rate and a low hypoglycemic index for specific populations.
How it was done
Earlier work found that a complex of oat beta-glucan and flavonoids slowed starch digestion and the blood sugar response, but its effect on stomach emptying and how it works were not well studied.
The authors made complexes of oat beta-glucan, at high and low molecular weights, with sea buckthorn flavonoids. They tested these in lab experiments and fed mice rice flour with the high molecular weight complex added, comparing them with a control group and a low molecular weight group.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These are mouse and lab studies. They can't show what happens in people.
- The mice were fed the complex for a short time, so long-term effects are not known.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Zhejiang Gongshang University, China; Quadram Institute Bioscience, U.K
The paper
- Title
- Effect of Complexation with Different Molecular Weights of Oat β-Glucan and Sea Buckthorn Flavonoid on the Digestion of Rice Flour
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Yang H, Wilde P, Wang R, et al (2024). Effect of Complexation with Different Molecular Weights of Oat β-Glucan and Sea Buckthorn Flavonoid on the Digestion of Rice Flour. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.4c06405PubMed 39392941DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error